


First Snowfall

by cosmic_llin



Series: Right Here By My Side: An Ada/Hecate Pre-Canon Timeline [1]
Category: The Worst Witch (TV 2017)
Genre: Beginnings, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Pre-Canon, Snow, Teaching
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-02
Updated: 2018-04-02
Packaged: 2019-04-17 09:20:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14185818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosmic_llin/pseuds/cosmic_llin
Summary: Ada Cackle shares a quiet moment with the new potions teacher.





	First Snowfall

It didn’t snow until January that year.

Ada’s heart still leapt when the first flakes fell, the same as it had when she was a child, even though she was past thirty and hadn’t made a snow castle in years. One morning a few days into the new term, the sky turned grey, the air started to taste frosty, and then the snow came down, and by that evening it was still going, in thick flurries. She went to bed smiling, under four blankets against the chill.

She woke early the next day, like she always did when it snowed, the unusual brightness calling to her. The sun must have only just risen. She turned toward the window and looked up at the sky - it was clear.

By lunchtime the snow in the grounds would be churned up from the passage of dozens of girls back and forth. Now was the only time to see it all laid out like a picture, smooth and untouched. Ada slid into her slippers, pulled on a cardigan and hurried to the wide window at the end of the corridor to look.

Someone was already there. A thin, black-clad figure. Miss Hardbroom, the new potions teacher.

Ada hadn’t had much chance to interact with her - she didn’t spend a lot of time in the staff room and she didn’t always show up for meals. She reportedly knew everything there was to know about potions and ruled her classroom with a rod of iron, but Ada had only heard her speak a handful of times and she barely looked older than the students.

Now she was leaning on the windowsill, her posture more relaxed than Ada had yet seen it, gazing out at the snow. Ada hesitated - she’d wanted to have this moment just for herself - but Miss Hardbroom heard her, turned around, and gave a guilty little start, as if Ada had caught her doing something wrong.

Ada smiled her most reassuring smile, and joined Miss Hardbroom at the window.

‘I love the snow,’ she volunteered.

‘It’s beautiful,’ Miss Hardbroom agreed.

She made space for Ada to look out too. It was just as lovely as she’d hoped - the snow was thick and fluffy, glinting in the early morning light. It covered the roofs and the tops of the towers, the fields and the woods in the distance. Not a single footprint marred the courtyard. Everything was still.

Had she been longer awake, Ada night have tried to make small talk - asked her how her holidays had been, or something. But she was sleepy, and still a little unsettled that she hadn’t found the solitude she’d expected, so she just looked at the snow.

Miss Hardbroom didn’t seem to mind. They stood at the window together, the snowy school spread beneath them. After a minute or two the silence stopped feeling awkward to Ada and started to feel companionable.

‘Oh!’ said Miss Hardbroom, after a while.

A small black shape was making its way across the courtyard, slowed by the depth of the snow.

Ada squinted down. ‘I think that’s young Miss Cobweb’s cat, Stardust,’ she said.

Miss Hardbroom looked curiously at her. ‘You can recognise all the girls’ cats on sight?’

‘Most of them.’

‘That’s... impressive.’

‘Thank you. I’ve known them since they were kittens, you see. I take care of the new familiars each year until their witches choose them.’

‘It must feel strange to part with them after raising them for weeks.’

‘A bit. It’s not so bad, I know I’ll see them around the school for another few years. I’ve spotted your familiar about the place once or twice - she’s a majestic creature.’

Miss Hardbroom’s eyes lit up. ‘She’s settling in well here,’ she said. ‘She loves the grounds.’

‘And what about you?’ Ada asked. ‘How are you settling in?’

‘Oh, very well, thank you,’ said Miss Hardbroom, but her posture stiffened.

Ada looked at her. ‘Really?’

‘I... it’s not that I’m not settling in. There’s just a lot to get used to.’

‘My first term as a teacher was a little overwhelming,’ Ada said. ‘I often felt as though I’d bitten off more than I could chew.’

‘Really?’ Miss Hardbroom’s eyes were wide.

‘Of course. I imagine most people feel that way at first.’

‘I thought perhaps it was just me,’ said Miss Hardbroom, in a small voice.

Ada thought for a moment about offering some advice, or some help, but she had the feeling Miss Hardbroom was the proud sort. She might not take kindly to it.

‘Why don’t you come to my classroom after lessons today and we can do our marking together?’ she suggested instead.

Miss Hardbroom looked a little surprised, but she nodded and said, ‘I’d like that.’

Just then the bell rang to wake the girls.

‘I’d better go,’ said Miss Hardbroom, and she hurried away.

* * *

Ada wasn’t entirely sure she’d see her that afternoon, but she arrived promptly after lessons with a stack of marking in her arms, and hovered uncertainly in the doorway to Ada’s classroom.

‘Have a seat,’ said Ada cheerfully, gesturing at her desk, and Miss Hardbroom pulled up a chair. Ada cleared her some space.

For a while they worked quietly, Miss Hardbroom frowning in concentration over her pile of potions essays, covering each one in neat little red-ink corrections.

When the bell rang for dinner, Ada shuffled her own work into a neat-enough pile, stood up and stretched.

‘Are you coming?’ she asked. ‘It’s jam sponge for pudding.’

Miss Hardbroom looked for a moment at her half-finished marking, hesitated.

Ada smiled. ‘There’ll always be more work to do, around here,’ she said. ‘But jam sponge is only once a week.’

Miss Hardbroom actually smiled at that - a small, shy smile but a genuine one.

‘All right,’ she said.

And she left her marking and they went to dinner.


End file.
